Sorry folks for the long wait, I finally updated the latest chapter of my story. The delay was thanks to me preparing for college and going into the orientation of my new college in the US, and working on my other story. I'll have to inform you that my updating schedule will be confusing due to me going to my first year of college which could give me little time to work on my story.
09:14 Hours, March 28, 2536 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Surface of unknown planet, southwest of Schwarz Forest
"We're here folks." Vaughan announced, stepping off the troop hog with the rest of Sunray 1-1. They had travelled around 5 miles away from the Dark Elf village to near the outskirts of the forest where their VIP was rumored to live at. Thankfully Quebec 204 delivered them a warthog to make their travel go much faster, though they had to initially drop it a considerable distance from the village to prevent a panic.
The Spartans were recalled back by the captain, the ODST team was sufficient enough to find the sorcerer and bring her back, while the Spartans would be assigned to more important missions. Vaughan half-wished that the Spartans were with him, their combat prowess would save them a lot of trouble if they faced anything hostile, along with their intimidating stature making people think twice about attacking them.
Oh well, orders were orders, if the captain needed the Spartans for something else who was he to argue. In the meantime, it was just him and his team on the search for the sorceress. He hoped that she would be cooperative in helping them find a way back home instead of being unwelcoming or hostile towards them. The very possibility was the reason he had his own customized hand-painted mustang rocket launcher with him if things went real hairy.
Let's hope we find her soon." Vaughan heard Turpin muttered as hopped off the 'hog.
"Before we go, Sparks, Quinn. You're on guard duty with the 'hog, make sure our ride isn't busted if our search doesn't go as planned." Vaughan ordered.
"Yes, sir." Sparks and Quinn replied as they set about creating a perimeter around the troop hog.
"Gruss, Turpin, you're with me. Let's move out!"
The three moved through the woods, leaving behind the two ODST and the warthog. They were heading towards a nearby clearing in the forest based on the location description provided by the dark elf elders of where the sorceress lived. They were told that she lived in a hut at the edge of the cliff and was guarded by a dangerous monster - her pet. A sudden desire to test to how dangerous the beast would be when it receiving a 102mm rocket to the face arose inside Vaughan. But his training immediately snuffed out that thought, confrontation with their VIP was not the objective.
Several minutes passed until the group reached the clearing where the sorceress' wooden hut was located. It now lay in front of them, no more than a dozen meters away. The the hut appeared to be only a one-story building with a typical door in the middle with several windows of various size scattered around the building, along with a small chimney top on the roof where smoke could be seen escaping. Overall the hut's appearance made it look rather cozy.
"Think she's at home?" Turpin asked.
"Don't know, but it's likely." Gruss replied.
"Even with the smoke coming out of the chimney top, can't exactly say for sure." Vaughan observed.
"Sooo, who's the unlucky one going up to the door and knocking on it?" Gruss asked.
"We should be more worried about whatever defences she could've laid around. Considering she' some kind of magician or some such, she has no doubt placed countermeasures against intruders. Which would mean us." Turpin said as she looked around her surrounding for anything suspicious, suddenly gaining an expression of weariness. "And knowing my luck, I probably just jinxed us."
Suddenly as if the world had heard Turpin, and decided to screw with her, a mighty roar erupted from the group's rear, startling them into bringing their weapons up in preparation for a battle. The thick bushes in to the left of them rustled before something large jumped out of them and over the ODSTs, landing between them and the house.
The ODSTs hurriedly turned around to face it. The beast was around the size of a warthog. It appeared to be similar to a dinosaur, more specifically a ceratopsidae. The dinosaur-looking creature was heavily built with a bulky body, looking powerful enough that it could charge and flip an APC on its side. The head of the dinosaur had a pair of small horn protruding near its nose and beak, and on the frill of the head were two foot-long horns allowing the monster to deal mortal blows with a swing of its head.
The ODST were momentarily surprised by the appearance of the dinosaur, never expecting such a familiar creature instead of a more… mythological being.
"Sir, are you seeing what I'm seeing." Turpin whispered.
"The dinosaur in front of me? Then yes, Turpin." Vaughan replied back.
"Interesting, never seen a ceratopsidae like that in any of the holobooks." Gruss observed in fascination, momentarily forgetting the potential danger they were in.
"Hey Gruss, you can fangirl about it when this is over." Turpin snapped out.
"Calm down!" Vaughan ordered. "Just stand your ground and don't make any move that'll piss it off."
The ODSTs stood still, gripping their weapon and sweating from the heavy tension between them and the dinosaur creature. They weren't exactly sure what the dinosaur in front of them was capable of, but they could infer from the lack of attacking that it was the sorceress' "pet." As long as they didn't make any wrong moves they should be okay.
The dinosaur in front of them was puffing and stomping its head in an act of dominance, while scraping the dirt with one of its front leg like a bull preparing to charge to intimidate the ODSTs. It kept on putting up an aggressive display to push the intruders out of its territory and the house, while the ODST stood their ground, neither side willing to bulge from their position.
The ceratopsidae dinosaur seemed to run out of patients as it let out an ear-burst bellow and lowered its head so that its horned frill was facing forward, preparing to charge and eliminate the intruders. In response the ODSTs clicked off the safeties of their weapon with Vaughan took out his rocket launcher to blow the dinosaur to chunky bits.
"Cera, stop!" A feminine commanding voice shouted out, causing the dinosaur to halt.
Vaughan turned around, while his squad mates kept their weapons trained on the dinosaur, to see a woman who appeared to be in her late-20s coming out of the bush from their rear. She was around 5'11 ft tall with a lean body shape, along with a gothic look. She had a sharp face with a long black-purplish hair reaching down to her shoulders and her brown eyes were surrounded by black markings. The outfit she was wearing appeared to be composed of a dark dress that looked like it favored both aesthetic while not sacrificing mobility, she had pair of long purple gloves reaching up to her elbow, dark boots nearly reaching her knees and over her outfit was black cloak where the exterior was decorated to with what appeared to be feathers. Besides her outfit, she held a wooden staff with a purplish crystal resting on top, surrounded by a pair of blades.
"Who are you people and why are you near my home? Speak before I let Cera resume what she was about to do." The woman looked at the ODSTs with disdain, annoyed by the intruders who were near her home.
Vaughan quickly spoke up. "My name is Major Vaughan of team Sunrary 1-1. The people here with me is my teammates Gruss and Turpin." He paused and continued speaking. "We're here to seek your assistance, the dark elves told us you could provide the help we need."
"My help? Why, that's the most interesting request I've heard in recent memory, considering that nobody has asked for my help in a long while." She chuckled. "But why?" Her mood quickly became suspicious. "For all I know, this could be a trick to apprehend and kill me." She and her pet snarled in tandem.
'Damn, better say something good before this gets hot fast!' Vaughan thought to himself. He put down his weapon and put his hands slightly up to show he didn't mean any harm.
"We're not here to capture or kill you. My people are lost and far from home due to an unknown magic causing us to appear in these lands we know little of. The Dark Elves told us you would be of aid with your vast knowledge and skill in magic." Vaughan said, hoping the explanation and flattery would placate her.
Raising an eyebrow, the sorceress replied. "You're not from these lands and were brought here by magic? How curious."
"Yes, we're not from these lands. We need any help we can get to get back home, the rest of our people back home are at war, it is very urgent that we return." Vaughan partially told and pleaded to the sorceress.
Turpin and Gruss looked at Vaughan in confusion and annoyance that he had to reveal such a classified detail that they were fighting a war to convince her. But they didn't protest, no use showing dissension in the group in front of a potential enemy.
"… So, you need my help in order to get back home, is that correct?" She questioned after a short pause, seemly more interested than before. "All because of a war your people are fighting?"
"Yes, we need your magical powers or something to help us find a way back home." Vaughan replied.
There was silence between the ODST and the sorceress and her pet that seem to last for an eternity before she spoke once more.
"I'll consider it." She replied. "But it better not be a trick or else I'll have Cera finish her job." She warned as Cera.
"Thank you." He professed his relief. "Say, what's your name?" Vaughan asked after a moment.
"Irisa, Irisa La Krystallo." She replied.
"Thank you, we'll bring you to our ride, from there we're to take you to our camp where our leader can speak to you of the full situation." Vaughan explained. "Though I'm not sure about your… pet." He pointed to the dinosaur.
"Unfortunately, Cera doesn't like to be alone for long periods of time and if I have to be with you people for an unknown amount of time she could get rather moody." Irisa explained, slightly glancing to Cera.
"Great, how are we supposed to explain to the captain. 'Hey captain we found the VIP, but we also brought her pet dinosaur because it will go bananas if she's away from the owner longer than a minute'." Turpin muttered under her breath, as the group and the sorceress along with her pet made their way to where the warthog was located.
"So, what weird or crazy stuff do you expect to see?" Sparks asked Quinn as he calibrate his sniper rifle scope.
"Well since we might have a sorceress with us, I think we should expect to see a dragon in the future." Quinn remarked. "If I were to die right now, the last sight I want to see before I die is a real-life fire-breathing dragon. Granted if it's not trying to kill me or anything." He admitted.
"A Dragon? So, something like Smaug, Toothless or Draco."
"The heck is Smaug, Toothless and Draco?" Quinn asked in confusion to the names Sparks uttered.
"21st century pop culture, not surprised that many people haven't heard of them since they're nearly 5 centuries old. The only reason I know it because I happen to be into 21st century classics." Sparks admitted.
"Huh, never knew you were into that." Quinn remarked. "What about you? What do you expect to see next?"
"Hmmm, cat girls, bunny woman, and fox girls." Sparks sheepishly said out his thought.
"… Really?" Quinn said with exasperation laced in her voice.
"Blame my favorite anime and comics for that." He retorted.
Silence descend between the two as they stood around troop hog, guarding the vehicle. It had been around nearly fifteen minutes since the other members of their team went to find their VIP, so far they hadn't got any word or sign of them returning. Then suddenly the ground beneath them shook, followed by a roar coming from the forest, causing the ODSTs to become alert in the face of possible danger.
"Looks like something big is coming our way." Quinn whispered, aiming her M7S to where the roar originated from.
The thudding of footfalls became stronger and closer every second, making Quinn and Sparks tense with anticipation. Until suddenly out of the trees and bushes came a large quadruple beast with a large horned frill head and a scaly body.
"Do you see what I'm seeing." Quinn said in shock.
"A dinosaur in front of us, yeah." A surprised Sparks replied.
It was a living, breathing dinosaur in front of them, just like in the movies and holobooks. Behind the dinosaur came out the rest of the team, along with a purple-black clad woman in a dress and a cloak holding a staff.
"Whoa, she's a sight to look at." Sparks stared at the female newcomer, only for him to slapped on the back of his helmet.
"We don't need your hormones coming out, Sparks. That's our VIP." Quinn sighed.
"Quinn, Sparks, meet our VIP Irisa La Krystallo. Ms. Krystallo, this is warrant officer Quinn and lance corporal Sparks. The individuals you met before petty officer Gruss and corporal Turpin." The ODST major introduced his team to the sorceress.
"I don't understand when you mean by vee aye pee?" Irisa asked, confusion by the foreign term.
Quinn came to the rescue with her simple explanation. "Our acronym or short term for very important person, which is you in this case."
"This is the first time someone has called me an important person." The sorceress remarked. "And what's that… metal beast over there?" She pointed to the M831 Warthog.
To her, the metal beast looked really bizarre. She couldn't see any limbs on its green body, with wheels in place of where the legs would be located at. Which could mean the metal beast was actually a metal wagon, but then where's the beast of burden that hauled it? Unless they plan on dragging it themselves.
"That's our ride back to our camp." Vaughan said as he got onto the driver seat as the rest of the team mount onto the troop complement, while Irisa looked on with unease and intrigue. "You can sit on the seat next to me here." He pointed towards the empty passenger seat besides the driver seat.
Realizing that she had exactly no choice but to ride the strange metal wagon, Irisa went around the vehicle to the passenger seat and climbed aboard. She was surprised by how incredibly comfortable the seat was compared to that of the standard wooden wagon. The soft feel of the seats caused her to marvel at what it was constructed out of. The strangers must be very rich if they could afford such luxurious padding on a wagon!
The ODSTs looked with amusement at the sorcerer's pleased expression when she sat down on the passenger seat. "Looks like we just won her over with a seat." Gruss remarked.
"Wait until she sleeps on the beds back at base or the ship." Quinn added as the warthog started up.
Irisia La Krystall's appearance is based of Master Cyclonis from Stormhawks, MCU Hela, and Morrigan from Dragon Age.
Cera is based off the Ferrucutus from King Kong 2005.